Finally On The Move

I have picked up my motorcycle after over three weeks wait, the shipping company do a great job securing the bike in the container, are very easy to deal with in both Darwin and Dili, it appears to be the ship maintenance and port availability that causes delays. Now I am on the bike and glad to be mobile again.

While still in Dili, Timor Leste I spent a couple of days checking out the sights. I visited two worthwhile exhibitions that highlight the struggle the East Timorese people went through over many years to achieve independence, one being the Chega Exhibition the other was the Resistance Museum. These people have been through some tough times in the recent past to say the least.

A couple of other highlights in Dili were the water front area where the students hang out through the day and are more than happy to expand their English language skills on an Aussie tourist. Also just a couple of kilometres East out of town is Cape Fatucoma, the Jesus Statue and a couple of nice Cafes along a pretty strip of white sandy beach with clear water for a swim, a great getaway from the hustle and bustle of town.

 

 

 

Due to the delays with my motorcycle and getting started on my adventure, I have had to shorten my time touring Timor Leste, I am on a bit off a schedule after all and if I do not hasten now it may accumulate causing issues down the track.

 

I did have time for a day trip South, inland from the coast, the road up the range out of Dili was a tarred but very dilapidated and pot holed, it did get better about 10 kilometre out of Dili but it still was not great. The main town I visited was Maubisse, a very small town in the mountains with a very pleasant temperature of about 24 degrees.

 

During the two hour ride to Maubisse I came up behind a guy on a scooter riding like he knew the road, so I sat in behind him for a while until he waved me passed. When I got to Maubisse I found a Warung (Café), parked the bike out the front, sat inside and order lunch. While I am eating a young guy walks in, sits down and also orders lunch, I recognise him as the guy I followed by his jacket and back pack and say hello, turns out he speaks pretty good English and we chat away through lunch then he suggests a walking tour of town, what more could I ask for. It also just happened to be Market Day so it was a hive of activity with stalls selling second hand cloths from Singapore, others selling a variety of local fruit and vegetables, and the women pictured selling tobacco and beetle nut.

 

 

My tour guide learnt to speak English while working in a Mission with Foreign Nationals in his home town of Same, further South in Timor Leste. He provided a great commentary for my tour  of town.

 

 

 

I returned to Dili after my Maubisse tour, prepared to leave and the next morning set off for West Timor, and a border crossing into Indonesia. Just before the Indonesian border I diverted slightly, to visit Balibo Timor Leste, which was the site where during the Timorese conflict five Australian based journalists were killed by Indonesian soldiers in 1975.

 

 

 

After a quick tour of Balibo and observing scrum like crowds of men viewing Cock fighting, I exited Timor Leste border with surprising efficiently, and entered West Timor, Indonesia with pretty much the same efficiency and with that my Indonesian adventure commenced.